The Dress
by Keyblade Hero Red
Summary: The first in my series of one shots! Vanellope is at a party celebrating Sugar Rush's 1 year Anniversery! When she gets bored and decides to take a break in her room, Ralph quickly notices and follows. The two them have a heart warming conversation and spend some time together like best buds should.


****(AN: Hello everyone! And welcome to the first in my series of prequel one shots. I say prequel because they all take place before my main crossover story which, as of this point, hasn't come out yet. I hope you like it! And make sure to check out my other stories as well! Hope you enjoy this friendly little one shot! Please read and review! You may also leave your opinion on what one shot I should do next! It can be any video game or animated movie, be it Disney or not! Please leave your review! Bye!)

**The Dress**

Vanellope hated it.

No, it wasn't the party. In fact, she loved how much fun everyone was having at the 1 year anniversary party for Sugar Rush. Especially how Ralph managed to almost trip over someone every 5 minutes. She smiled and shook her head as Ralph almost tripped over Sonic for the 12th time tonight. It amazed her, Ralph could almost trip over the same person so many times in a row it was ridiculous, but he had never actually fully tripped over someone. It seemed impossible for that to happen to Ralph. Was it the ball room scene that she hated? No. It gave everyone enough space to enjoy the not to loud music and the refreshments without tripping over eachother. Well, everyone except Ralph.

Vanellope guided her vision over to Felix and Tamora, known as Sgt. Calhoun to all of her troops, did she hate how they were focusing more on each other than the party? No. In fact, she found it quite comical how they would act and talk to each other when they were alone or when they thought no one was watching. She use to think it was plain old funny, recently though, since her 13th birthday, she had found it kind of cute. Was that the thing that she hated? That she was growing up? No.

It was the dress.

She looked down for what had to be the 20th time that night and, just like every other time, growled at it. It was the same dress that had materialized itself when she crossed the finish line that fateful day when they almost lost Sugar Rush to some fake king and a swarm of Cy-bugs. But thanks to Ralph, Felix, and Tamora, the Cy-bugs were defeated and that so called 'king candy' as well. Good riddance, all he did was cause Vanellope's troubles. Except for the dress, that trouble appeared on its own. No matter how many times she had gotten rid of it, or tried to. It reappeared the next time she opened her dresser inside the castle. Vanellope had tried everything to get rid of that one dress. She burned it to a crisp, threw it into the diet coke volcano, and even ripped it to shreds herself. But every time, the dress would reappear that night inside the dresser, neatly folded and tucked away. It was itchy, uncomfortable, and down right frilly and much to girly for Vanellope.

But she wore it anyway that night.

Vanellope knew how important it is for a video game's first anniversary to be special, and since she was the princess, even though she tried so much to get rid of that title, she had to look the best that night. Which meant no candy in her hair, her hair also had to be loose, no band to hold it up, and lastly she had to wear that darn dress. She never cared much about her appearance. Or knew how to make herself look good for that matter. So she winged it that night, and it seemed to pay off.

Vanellope finally got fed up with the dress and proceeded to stand up from her seat in the left corner of the ball room, and left to her room to take it off.

"Were ya going? The party's just started princess." Taffyta walked up to her alone.

Vanellope inwardly sighed in defeat. Taffyta was the one racer she still disliked, but she hadn't said anything mean at Vanellope since they all got their memory back, so Vanellope had to be nice as well. Equal treatment. Though, at least she had someone to talk to for the next 2 minutes. She hadn't been able to talk to Ralph or Felix all night.

"I'm just gunna take a break in my room alright? I'll be back in a bit. If anyone asks, tell them I'm, well, taking a break." Vanellope chuckled and crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her right foot.

"Of course, princess. If Ralph asks, is he allowed to come up?" Taffyta replied with the utmost respect to Vanellope, which received a roll of the eyes from said 'princess'.

"Yeah, send the stink brain up if he asks." she then turned and began walking away to the door, but she stopped and turned around for a moment. "And for the love of Pete Taffyta! Quit being so formal. It's cheesy and it reminds me what I don't want to be called." she began walking again.

"Of course, I mean, yeah sure! And what don't you like being called princess?" Taffyta asked.

"Princess." Vanellope called back with a wave of the back of her hand and left through the door, closing it behind herself.

As she quickly made her way to the center of the main hall and up the stairs she almost ran into Sour Bill at the top of said stairs. "Whoa!" she managed to stop herself before running him over. After re-composing herself she helped Bill up from the ground, as the speeding Vanellope almost ran him over, she stood him back up and fixed her dress, for some odd reason. "What are you doing up here alone Bill? Your missing the party!" she questioned him.

Sour Bill sighed and spoke in his monotonous voice. "Princess, as your royal adviser it is my job to watch over the rest of the castle while your hosting guests, be it in the ball room or somewhere else. Unless I'm commanded to preform other tasks, this is what I do."

Vanellope rolled her eyes and walked around him and continued to her room. As she passed him she spoke calmly. "Fine, I 'command' you to go enjoy the party." and with a victorious smirk, she walked away down the small hallway which at the end lied one door to her room.

Ralph loved it.

He stood by the punch bowl again for the 4th time that night with a smile on his face. Sure he was off to the side of the main fun, but he wasn't tripping over anyone and ruining theirs as he tried to have his own. Not to mention the excellent vantage point he had from the corner of the room. He saw the whole dance floor and all the guests. Felix and Tamora were chatting it up with Ken and Ryu, probably about their marriage. In the middle of the dance floor were Sonic and Shadow having a break dancing contest. Probably to decide 'who was the ultimate' or something. Knowing how competitive Sonic gets during any contest with his rival Ralph decided to keep a safe distance from them both. So he just took to standing by the punch bowl and having leisure conversation with anyone near by. Right now it was with Miles Prower. Or 'Tails' as he preferred to be called. "So Tails, your Sonic's brother right? Like, not his literal brother but very close right?" Ralph asked with a cup of punch in his hand and eyeing the two break dancers.

"Yeah. He can get pretty competitive at times, well, usually only when he and Shadow bump heads on who's better and who's not. Other than that though, he's a hero to everyone on our world." Tails nodded, smiling. "Sonic and I have been through some pretty awesome adventures. Some spanning out into space and to other worlds!" he spread his hands over and away from his head to emphasize the scale of their adventures.

Ralph chuckled. "Man, wish I could meet someone from another world. Not like one from the arcade or nearby, I mean someone from a world that's far beyond ours and the ones connected to them. I wonder what they'd be like.."

"Hopefully friendly." Tails chuckled and drank more punch.

Ralph chuckled and nodded. "Yep." his eyes fell upon the one chair in the top left corner of the room. The one Vanellope spent the majority of the beginning of the night on. Before he could make the full trip with his eyes to the chair though, he saw her talking to Taffyta near the doors that exited to the main hall of the castle. After seeing Vanellope leave with a smirk on her face, he decided to go check on her. As this might be the only time of the night he can chat with his best bud alone. So he quickly finished his drink, and an extra cup of punch. And after setting the cup on the table, began walking.

After saying bye to Tails, Ralph made his way safely across the ball room and up to Taffyta who stood in the same spot she was in when Vanellope had left the room. She stood with her arms crossed and her head tilted downward as if she was thinking. Probably wondering why Vanellope didn't like being called princess.

"Hey Taffyta," Ralph called as he approached her. "where did Vanellope go? She was here a minute ago right?" he asked as he gestured towards the ball room doors.

Taffyta jumped a bit as she was startled out of her thinking. When she noticed who it was though she completely calmed back down. "Huh? Oh, it's you Ralph. Yeah, princess Vanellope said she needed a break away from the party and stuff. She said only to let you up if you asked, so... Yeah. She's up in her room probably." she said as she stepped to the side to let Ralph pass easily.

Ralph smiled and replied a thank you and made his way through the doors to the main hall. As he turned to walk up the stairs, he saw Sour Bill making his way slowly down the stairs. Ralph chuckled at this and rested his hands on his hips. "C'mon Sour Bill, you can't be THAT slow."

Sour Bill replied with a sad smile and a shake of his head. "Just because I don't sound older, or look older, doesn't mean I'm not near my expiration date..." he replied monotonously as he passed Ralph on the main floor.

Ralph didn't say anything. He instead looked at Sour Bill sadly as he finished his walk up the stairs and headed down the hall towards Vanellope's room. As Ralph approached the door to Vanellope's room he came to his conclusion on why she needed the break, and he was completely correct. He chuckled and said out loud.

"It was the dress."

Vanellope was finally finished changing back into her normal attire and leaned on her balcony looking up at the starry night sky. It was a beautifull sky. There were stars and comets all over the place, lighting up the night perfectly. Vanellope would always look up at the night sky in every game she visited when it was night time. And the night sky looked exactly the same in all of them, same stars and everything. That was one detail that Vanellope was glad of. All she had to do was look up at the night sky, and she would instantly smile. It calmed her to the point of herself being ready to put the dress back on after watching the sky for an hour or so. "Wow..." she sighed in amazement. It seemed tonight the sky was the most active it had been in a while. With comets rolling in and out of view, shooting stars doing twists and turns, and the normal ones blinking and twinkling as if even they were celebrating calmly in their quiet, calm serenade. Assisting Vanellope in her own.

A knock at the door shook her from her starry trance. "If your not stink brain then get back to the party! If you are, then get in here!" she called to the door.

A chuckle was heard from the other side of the door. Followed by "Yeah, it's stink brain." and Ralph walking in.

Vanellope turned around and waved at him. "Hey."

Ralph walked onto the balcony and stood next to her. "Hey." he replied.

Vanellope rolled her eyes and looked back to the starry sky again. "Looks awesome doesn't it?" she referred to the star filled sky that assisted in her nightly ritual of going to sleep with the light off, as there were no natural lighting in the castle besides the night sky that she could easily see from her bed. She found the sky beautiful in every aspect, never would she call it that to someone though.

Ralph nodded, looking towards the same sky. "Sure does." he said calmly.

Silence followed for the next 10 minutes. Both characters were enjoying the quietness of being away from a loud party and the calming night sky that illuminated the whole landscape with a silky white blanket of mysteriousness. Ralph finally broke the silence by answering one of Vanellope's unasked questions.

"Amazing huh. How all the worlds share the same night sky with each other. Whether its in a video game arcade, or the world outside the arcade. Or even all the worlds out there, they all share the same sky..."

Vanellope blinked. She never would have guessed... "But shouldn't that mean we could see the worlds in the sky too though? All I'm seeing are stars and comets." she replied to him.

Ralph smiled. "You can see them perfectly. Every single one of those stars is a different world." he pointed towards one with 4 outward points. "You see that one? That one could be Sonic's world, Möbius; and that one," he pointed towards another, one with 5 outward points. "could be a world completely unknown to us, and we could be completely unknow to the people living there as well. Pretty cool huh." he finished.

Vanellope nodded, and after another long silence, she asked him mockingly. "Alright Ralph, where did you learn that? Because your obviously not smart enough to come up with it yourself." she giggled as she crossed her arms at him.

Ralph pretended to be hurt. "Vanellope! I'm hurt! Why wouldn't you think I could..." he broke out laughing. "alright, I heard it from Sonic's brother Tails. It's a pretty cool piece of info though. Am I right?" Ralph said as he went back inside and sat on the bed.

Vanellope nodded and took one last look at the night sky. "One sky, one destiny..." she said to herself then walked back in, closing the balcony doors behind her. "Say Ralph, do you think things are ever going to get interesting around her again?" she asked as she went back to her dresser/mirror.

Ralph shrugged. "Maybe, depends on what you mean by interesting."

"I mean like, something new and refreshing happening. Maybe a visitor or a new game being plugged in. I dunno, it feels like we've fallen into a rut of rise, game, rinse and repeat. They should at least plug in a new game at the arcade, so we at least have a new face around here. Maybe a dude around my age..." Vanellope hadn't even realized she added in the last part. And thankfully, neither did Ralph.

"Maybe. Sonic knows a guy named Red(OC) that might drop by or something. I dunno, didn't get all the details from him as I was tripping over him." Ralph chuckled.

Vanellope rolled her eyes. "You sure are a stink brain Ralph..."

Ralph laughed as he got up and went to the door. "Yeah well... You stink."

"Always were bad at name calling." Vanellope replied with a laugh.

"Alright, alright. Geez. Anyway, I'll see you downstairs?" Ralph asked as he was halfway through the door already.

"Yeah, gimme a bit to put on my, Bleh, formal wear." Vanellope chuckled at her own misfortune. Receiving a nod and a wave from Ralph, she threw her garment that she was going to wear onto the bed and locked the door. She sighed and turned slowly with a smile on her face and looked at the bed.

"Maybe it's not so bad after all..." commented Vanellope as she finished re getting ready. "Sure it's ugly, but it represents the kingdom right?" she tried to convince herself of the qualities of it. She finished getting ready and looked at herself in the mirror, wearing the same terrible dress she had worn a year ago, and 30 minutes ago. She smiled in the mirror for a while, then finally spoke.

"Nope. Still hate it."


End file.
